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Tuesday, August 11, 2015

I recently read an article in the Muse (an online magazine that provides free career advice) by Jim Schleckser of Inc. In this article, Schleckser tells readers why the successful Warren Buffett doesn't worry that much. Despite all the billions of money Buffett has made and the number of investments he's made over the years, he remains "cool as a cucumber."

You may ask yourself how the heck is that possible. Well, Schleckser tells us that Buffett has adopted secrets from Dale Carnegie's book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Here are the 6 secrets:

1. Isolate the Problem. The key to isolating the problem is to departmentalize your life. This means keeping your business, relationships and finances separate so they don't spill into each other. For the most part, I agree. I typically keep work where it belongs...at work. But sometimes, when I've had a very hard day, it does spill over. However, the trick is knowing when to turn off that faucet because I wouldn't want it messing up my time with family and friends.

2. Understand the Problem. If some aspect of your life has gone haywire, don't react to it until you have all the facts. In theory, this sounds great but how many of us fly off the handle before getting all the facts? I know I sometimes do this very same thing. However, over the years, I have learned to take a step back. For example, if someone sends me an email that is scathing, before I blow a gasket, I take a breather and wait before responding so that my thoughts are clear. I find that my answer is more pointed and leaves the sender feeling not so good about sending me the email in the first place.

3. Prepare to Accept the Worse. Once you know the type of issue you're facing, determine the worst-case scenario and make peace with it. Recently, I had a situation that got me all knotted up in the stomach. I worried so much that I couldn't think clearly. Then once I mapped out the worst-case scenario, I finally made peace with it and so I stopped worrying about it.

4. Make a Decision. After you have accepted the worst case scenario, you should start thinking about creating a better outcome after weighing all the facts that you have. Like I said above, once I accepted the worst-case scenario, I was able to stop worrying about it. But this didn't happen overnight. I had to weigh all the facts before I was able to get to that point.

5. Act. You have to act on the decision because this will reduce your level of worry. I can honestly say that once I made my decision, I did act but it could have been a lot swifter. Anyway, I'm working on that.

6. Let It Go. This is the golden prize. Once you've done everything to deal with the worst-case scenario, it's time to accept and make peace with it. Why? Because, there's nothing you can do about it. So, it's time to move on to the next issue. And yes, I did make peace with my issue and have moved on to the next.

I can so hear Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy" playing in my head! So, if Warren Buffett can use these 6 steps to not worry, why not give it a try!